Golspie Golf Club

The verdict

Sitting on the Sutherland coast a short drive north of Royal Dornoch, Golspie is the kind of course travelling golfers dream of stumbling upon. The club dates to 1889, and in 1926 the great James Braid laid out the heathland holes at Ferry Wood that give the round its variety. The result is a course of three distinct characters, links by the shore, heather and gorse inland, and mature parkland near the turn, all stitched together so naturally that it never feels like a compromise.

What keeps Golspie a favourite of those in the know is the value and the welcome. At a green fee a fraction of the marquee links down the road, you get firm seaside turf, framed views across the Dornoch Firth to the Black Isle, and the chance to play unhurried golf the way it used to be. It will not host an Open, and it does not pretend to. It simply offers one of the most charming and underrated rounds in the Highlands.

The holes worth the trip

The round opens by the sea, where the early links holes run firm and fast along the shore of the Dornoch Firth and the wind is a constant companion. This is golf in its oldest form, the ball scuttling and bouncing, the line into the green dictated as much by the breeze as the yardage book.

Then comes the surprise. Braid's heathland stretch at Ferry Wood climbs into heather and gorse, the turf changing underfoot and the strategy shifting with it, before the parkland holes near the turn offer a gentler, tree lined contrast. Few courses anywhere shuffle their character so often or so successfully, and the variety is the whole point of a day at Golspie.

It closes back toward the clubhouse and the firth, the views opening up again across the water. Nothing here is tricked up or overlong, but every hole asks a fair and interesting question. Golspie is proof that a great day's golf has nothing to do with a famous name or a fearsome green fee, just good ground in the right hands.

Where to stay nearby

Golspie sits in classic Highland country, with the fairy tale Dunrobin Castle on its doorstep and the village offering small hotels, inns and guest houses for a quiet northern base. Many golfers, though, stay in or around Dornoch, twenty minutes south, where the wider choice of accommodation makes a natural hub for the whole Sutherland golf coast.

The way to enjoy Golspie is as part of a far north loop. Pair it with Royal Dornoch, the wild links at Brora just up the road, and the Highland heavyweight of Castle Stuart on the way in or out from Inverness. Strung together, these courses make a few days of links golf as memorable, and far better value, than the better known circuits to the south.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Golspie.